MONSTER PLANTS!

[SWA]

Whew boy! After walking the fencelines for mending this weekend, we found this very strange and scary looking plant right at the "foot" of our ground pole to the power box for the electrical fence wire.

Now what in tarnation IS THIS??? At first glance it looks like a very pretty Elephant Ear type plant. But, as we got closer and closer I was shocked to see that it has TEETH! :new_shocked:

This thing just sprouted up out of no where! Nothing else like it anywhere else on our property...that we could find anyways.

: Nor, have we ever even SEEN anything like it before, ANYWHERE. It's almost 3 feet tall, and those "teeth" or prongs or HORNS, whatever they are, are a good inch and a half to two inches, depending the point of the leaf. :new_shocked:

It "looks" tropical, but somehow seems to actually THRIVE in the cold, as everthing else is practically browned dead from the cold spirts we've had the last couple days. I don't know if it's drawn to grow right there at the electrical ground pole, or if that's anything at all to do with it either. I know, not likely, LOL, but the fact that it looks MEAN with those teeth, makes me think that something got bit by an electrical shock or something, to make it grow "there in that particular spot"...and have TEETH to boot, LOL!

:

Ok....your guess is as good as mine...hopefully BETTER though, LOL.

:

What do YOU think it is? Is it as mean as it looks, in that, is it toxic to my horses?

Should I keep it...or KILL it????

:

 

[Magic]

Wow, I don't know what it is, but it looks wicked! :new_shocked:

If it were me, I'd take it out-- but carefully!

 

[MiniHoofBeats]

Talk about a leaves way of protecting itself!!

 

[stormo41]

That thing looks cool! If horses can't get to it I would keep it.

 

[Mona]

:new_shocked: OH MY GOODNESS! Isn't that something! I have never seen anything like it! COOL!

 

[tagalong]

Did it say anything/sing? As in....

[SIZE=18pt]Feed me, Seymour...[/SIZE]

*Little Shop of Horrors reference*

 

[Sterling]

OOhhh that certainly looks like something from one of those sci-fi movies!!! :cold: I was going to say we have some of those in the front corner of our property...until I sae those teeth!! :new_shocked:

 

[SWA]

OOhhh that certainly looks like something from one of those sci-fi movies!!! :cold: I was going to say we have some of those in the front corner of our property...until I sae those teeth!! :new_shocked:

I know, those teeth! :new_shocked: I'm wondering if maybe this thing is some sort of mutated cacti or something???

:

Tagalong, that is SO FUNNY! Hubby was saying the same thing, LOL.

:

 

[wade3504]

I think they are called Soda apples down here or something like that I will find out for sure. If you have them get rid of them. They will take over your property like a jungle and get somewhat round seed type things on them lthat look kind of like the orange seeds on a Palm tree but not as hard. They multipy like crazy. If the horses can't get to it use roundup and get rid of it before it takes over. A friend of mine down here had tons of them in her pasture and it took forever for us to get rid of them. The stem has teeth too so if you try to pull it out use thick gloves as the teeth hurt.

It might as well be something from a sci-fi movie the way they take over. That one you have is just a babv. I hope it's the only one.

You can look up Tropical Soda Apple on the internet and get quite a few hits. Here's one definition:

Tropical soda apple (TSA), is a serious weed problem in many perennial grass pastures of Florida. Having foliage unpalatable to livestock and highly viable seed, this noxious weed can infest a pasture or native land within 1 to 2 years resulting in lower stocking rates (animals per acre). Geographically, the incidence of this plant in Florida has been highest in the south though it has been observed throughout the entire state and has spread outside of Florida to other southern states. Tropical soda apple has been observed as a weed in pastures, ditch banks, citrus groves, sugar cane fields, vegetable fields, and rangeland. It appears to be restricted to semi-disturbed sites

Amanda

 

[SWA]

Wow Amanda!

: Yep, THAT's IT! Thank you so much for helping me with this discovery!

WOW, I guess it IS as MEAN as it looks!

: Hubby says he's bringing home JUGS of that Round-Up tonight on his way home from work.

Hopefully we can nip this stuff in the bud. Whew boy!

:

 

[Mona]

:new_shocked: WOW, that stuff sure sounds as nasty as it looks!! Glad you found it before you stepped out the door one morning in bare feet! :new_shocked:

 

[SWA]

:new_shocked: WOW, that stuff sure sounds as nasty as it looks!! Glad you found it before you stepped out the door one morning in bare feet! :new_shocked:

:new_shocked: AMEN!

:

 

[wade3504]

Tonya, I'll find out what my friends used too. My husband and I originally ripped it all out and it came back as we had to be careful as the horses were in the pasture so we didn't want to use roundup. They all came back and the my friends ended up using simething else and they finally got rid of it. Hopefully you don't have that much and are able to get rid of it before it gets out of control.

 

[SWA]

Tonya, I'll find out what my friends used too. My husband and I originally ripped it all out and it came back as we had to be careful as the horses were in the pasture so we didn't want to use roundup. They all came back and the my friends ended up using simething else and they finally got rid of it. Hopefully you don't have that much and are able to get rid of it before it gets out of control.

Thank you so much Amanda! I sure appreciate all your help!

: